Aug 6, 2025
The ongoing Artificial Intelligence boom is already creating millionaires and billionaires in the tech industry, but it’s also causing some panic in company boardrooms and the offices of U.S. politicians, according to Mike Rowe.
Speaking at the inaugural Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit at Carnegie Mellon University, the Dirty Jobs host described a “pinch point” emerging in the economy as white collar workers start losing their jobs while the demand for blue collar work accelerates without the supply to match it.
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“We’ve been telling kids for 15 years to learn to code. Well, AI is coming for the coders,” said Rowe. “It’s not coming for the welders. It’s not coming for the plumbers. It’s not coming for the steamfitters, or the pipefitters, or the HVAC. It’s not coming for the electricians.
“There is a clear and present freakout going on right now. I’ve heard from six governors in the last six months. I’ve heard from the heads of major companies.”
Here’s why experts are growing increasingly worried about the structure of the U.S. labor market, and what you can do to adapt to the automation wave.
Shifting tide in the labor pool
Rowe isn’t the only one ringing the alarm about the shifting labor market. The CEOs of several megacorporations — including Amazon, JP Morgan Chase and Ford Motor — recently issued forecasts of significant cuts to white-collar jobs because of rising automation.
In an interview with Axios, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warned that nearly half of all entry-level white collar jobs could disappear within five years, with the country’s unemployment rate potentially reaching as high as 20%.
However, Rowe believes these emerging new technologies could also create new jobs, especially in the skilled trades.
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“These data centers have to be built,” Rowe said on Fox News, while also forecasting the demand for “hundreds of thousands of jobs” in the energy sector. “The AI race is on, it’s the modern-day Manhattan Project, and the pinch point is an enthused, skilled labor force.”
The future of America’s labor force is certainly looking more blue than white, but that doesn’t mean going to trade school is the only way to adapt to this shift.
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How you can adapt to automation
The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 backs up many of the forecasts made by business leaders.
The report predicts that by 2030, roughly 92 million jobs across the world could be displaced, with bank tellers and data entry clerks being some of the most vulnerable to automation. However, 170 million new jobs are expected to emerge over this same period.
Skilled trade jobs such as chefs and cooks, renewable energy technicians and security management specialists could be some of the fastest growing jobs in the market by 2030. But the list also includes many white collar jobs such as big data specialists, robotics engineers and fintech engineers.
Simply put, going to trade school is a good way to adapt to this automation wave, but it isn’t the only option. If you can gain specialized skills in areas such as renewable energy or information security, you could not only prolong your career but also boost your earnings potential.
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Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
